Yet another new blog...

So I've decided to start a new blog, which I do from time to time. I have my main personal blog at http://boolah.dupadee.net/ which is where I can feel free to write about various topics of interest to me. However, I wanted to try something a bit different for any writing I do about technology. Often my tech posts feel out of place on my personal blog, and my personal posts feel out of place for the tech people who might read my tech posts. So I'm going to start up a new targeted site here and see how it goes. It might get abandoned as many blogs do, but who knows, something might stick.

I also wanted to take the opportunity to try the new Blogger. I haven't used their service in a looooong time, and from the looks of it, it's gotten a complete and total over-haul from older versions I've used. So far I'm liking it, though I'm not sure it's quite as full featured as good old faithful WordPress.

Now, about the name of this blog. Many people know that I appropriate the term Liberal Arts Technologist as a way to describe myself, and so that's the name of this blog. Instead of re-explaining the term, I'm going to paste a blog entry here from my personal blog where I wrote about Steve Jobs. In it, I talk about how Apple presents the notion of Liberal Arts and Technology, and why it feels appropriate to me. Enjoy!

Steve Jobs and Me
I joined millions of people yesterday in my sadness at losing Steve Jobs from this world. He was a one of a kind innovator and the world is a much different place because of his work. In fact his work directly affected me and where I’m at in my life.

I’ve spent my entire adult life in a career in technology, and much of that is due to my very young exposure to computers. When I was 7 years old my mom was working as a teacher’s aide at a school. During the summer her boss let her bring home an Apple II computer for me to use. It was my first exposure to computers, and it hooked me. Even though the first computer that I owned was a C64, Apple computers were everywhere in my educational development. It’s because of this early use of computers, that even though I went to school for a completely different field, I still was able to move in to the technology field and make a successful career.

That brings me to the second piece of my connection with Apple/Jobs. In recent years, Jobs presented the concept that Apple wanted to be at the intersection of Technology and Liberal Arts, presenting this as an image of two street signs at a road intersection. When he first mentioned the idea it struck me because it’s exactly the type of technologist that I have built my career on being. In my interview for my latest job, I even started out my personal introduction by saying I’m a “liberal arts technologist.” I say this, because I have no formal Computer Science education, and have no desire to be a scientist in technology. My goal is to enable technology to enhance life, and solve problems. I’m a very practical and gadget oriented person when it comes to technology. 

This is because at heart I want to solve problems. Even though it sometimes has annoyed people close to me, I always want to fix problems, and come up with solutions. This is what I do in technology. I take my life and experience with history and theology, and many other disciplines, and try to find ways to get technology to help solve the problems I’m faced with. It’s why I love things like smartphones and tablets and multimedia devices. They help to solve problems, and when used properly, can add to our experiences of life. Even looking at innovations such as the Internet, and how I’ve developed multiple, deep, personal friendships from my connections there, is an example of how technology can shape our lives in a positive way. 

That’s the intersection of technology and liberal arts, and it’s where I live. Thank you Steve Jobs for all the work you did to make that possibility a reality.